BATON ROUGE, La. - Isabella Flores and Kalie Amos each recorded a hit, but Lamar University dropped its season opener to North Carolina State, 7-1, Thursday afternoon at the LSU Tiger Classic.

Flores recorded LU's first hit of the season with a second-inning single. Amos drove in the Cardinals' only run with an RBI double in the seventh inning. Ava Prejean made her Cardinal debut in the circle but was tagged with the loss after going 2.1 innings allowing three runs on five hits. Reagan Smith pitched three scoreless innings of relief allowing just two hits and striking out three batters. 

The Cardinals threatened early in the game with a pair of one-out first-inning walks but the next two hitters struck out swinging to end the inning. Prejean allowed a single in the bottom half of the frame, but NC State homered in the second to get on the board first. The next two innings saw the Wolfpack score six runs to stretch their lead to 7-0. 

NC State looked to end the game early by putting two on with nobody out but Smith responded by retiring the next three batters. In the seventh inning, Gracee Hess reached base on a fielder's choice before Amos' two-out double broke the shutout.

The Cardinals will take on Illinois Friday with the first pitch being delivered at 10 a.m.
 

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